Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1887-12-31
HE MADE THEM SPORT.

nacie this morning the whole congre-
CATION sang the hymn beginning:
"rhe Hill OF Zion yields
q Thousand sacred sweets
Before we reach tae heavenly fields ,
Or walk the golden s~treera.n
The Rev. 4. DEWITT Talmage, ID. d.,
preached on "Recreatlons Coed and
Bad taking two texts: | Corinthians,
Oh. z, v. 81:
"fhey that use this #orld, as not abusing
it."
And Judges, Oh. 16, V. 25:
"And II anne to pase, when their hearts
were merry, that they said, Gail for Sansoc,
that he may make us sport. And they called
for Samson out Of the prison house ana he
made them sport.'
DR.. Talmage said:
We are entering the gayest season of
the year. The winter opens before us
the gates of a thousand amuscments,
some of them good and some bad. One
OF my texts will show you that amuse-
ments may be destructive, my other
text will show you that amusements
may be under the Divine blessing and
direction.
There were three thousand people
assembled in the temple at DagOn.
They had come to make sport of eye
less Samson. They were al ready for
the entertainment. They began TO clap
and pound, impatient for the amuse-
ment to begin, and they cried. Fetch
him out! fetch him out!' Yonder |
see the blind old giant coming, led by
the hand of a child into the very midst
of the temple. At his first appearance
there goes up a shout of laughter and
derision. The blind old giant pretends
he is tired, and wants to rest himself
against the pillars of the house; SO he
says to the lad who leads HIM, '.Show
me where the main pillars are" The
lad does so. Then the strong man
puts his right hand on n pillar and
his left hand on another pillar, and,
with the mightiest push that mortal
ever made, throws himself forward
until the whole house come down in
thunderous crash, grinding the audi
ence like grapes in u wine press. land
so it came to pass, when their hearts
were merry. that they said, call for
Samson, tha. he may make us sport.
And they called for Samson ont of the
prison house; and he made them
sport"
DESTRUCTIVE ADJUSTMENTS.
In other words: There are amuse-
mcnts that are destructive, and bring
down disaster and death upon the heads
of those who practice them. While
they laugh and cheer, they die. The
three thousand who persisted that day
in GAIA are as nothing compared with
the tens of thousands who have been
DESTROYED by sinful amusements.
But the other text | have read implies
that .hera is Il lawful use of the world
as well as an unlawful abuse of it. and
the difference between the nan Chris
tian and the man un-Christian is, that
in the former case the man masters the
world, while in the latter case the world
masters him. For whom did God make
this grand and beautiful vorldp For
whom this wonderful expenditure of
color, this gracefulness OF line, this
mosaic Of the ground, this fresco of the
sky, this glowing fruitage OF orchard
and vineyard, this full orchestra of the
tempest, in which the tree branches
flute, and the winds trumpet, and the
thunders drum, and all the splendors
of earth and sky come clashing their
oymbalsp For whom did God spring
the arched bridge OF colors resting
upon buttresses of broken storm-cloudP
For whom did he gather the upholstery
OF fire around the window OF the setting
sum- For all men; but more especially
for his own dear children.
Ii O build a large mansion, and
spread a great feast after it to celebrate
the completion of the structure, do you
allow strangers to come in and occupy
the place while you thrust your W
children in the kitchen or the barn or
kut ucIdSg VII IL T, oay
very glad to see strangers in my a
sion, but my own son and daughters
shall have the first right there" Now
God has built this
GRAND MANSION OF A WORLD.
and he has spread a glorious feast in
It; and while those who are Strangers
to his grace may come in, think that
God especially intends to give the ad-
vantage to his own children, those who
are the sons and the daughters OF the
Lord Almighty, those who through
grace can look up and say. abba.
Father" You can no make me be-
lieve that God gives more advantages
to the world than he gives to the church
bought by his own blood. If, therefore.
people of the world have looked with
dolorous sympathy upon those who
make profession Of religion. and have
said, 'Those new converts are going
down into privation and into hardship.